[raylieghton]

My oil is topped-off, but I get the ticking noise occasionally too. Mine goes away when warming up. Makes me wonder why that's the fix though.

[yezzrr]

Originally Posted by kenaxcix

I was told to try here to help diagnose.
I will include my original thread and a video of the noise.

Help N52 ticking/thumping on angle https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1590960

Thats one of the joys of owning this engine across all of the BMW cars from this era. It is considered as normal noise and there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. It does not matter if you change oils, viscosity of oils, drive short/long commute, replace lifters etc. Just have to live with it I assume thats the same N52B25 than I have?

My car ticks 100% of the time during winter until the engine is at around ~80deg oil temperature. In summer its much more rare. Also some guys have greatly reduced the noise by removing the last o-ring from the oil filter stick. The reason why it works is unknown but they have tested that well over 25k kms and it works.

[Megashiver]

Hi,

I am new to this forum but needs some help/idea on an issue with my BMW, I try to be short as possible:
I have an E93 325i (2012) N53 B30A. Injectors (6 of them) just changed, oil changed, crankcase valve cover also changed in one visit.

After that I started to hear a strange noise, don't know if I heard it directly after it or just a bit later. (so far approx. 1500 km driven after this)
I found another guy on youtube who has exactly the same noise as mine. I contacted him and he said they changed oil pump, fuel pump, injectors and also oil. He said still has the noise but maybe a bit more silent.
I revisited the service and they even removed the fan belt and we still heard this noise. Service doesn't have a clue because they can't really determine the source of the noise. They checked oil for metal and oil was fine. If the car gets the operational temperature for the oil like 100-110 C then the noise barely noticeable or not at all.
Here is the video about the noise uploaded by the guy I mentioned above.

best heard at the beginning or around 0:35. You will hear it like woop woop woop like a wrong pump or something.

Any ideas?

[Kjanko]

Anyone has an idea what is causing the grinding sound here? M47 engine with fresh belt, crankshaft and alternator pulley.

[bluewater328]

Originally Posted by Kjanko

Anyone has an idea what is causing the grinding sound here? M47 engine with fresh belt, crankshaft and alternator pulley.

Maybe it's just me, but it sounds more like a plastic piece vibrating.

[_nwilton]

Lifters on a BMW do tick especially if you never drive outside the city and drive them "hard" BMW's like to be driven. The lifters only bleed at "higher" RPM so if you never drive it like it wants they will always tick. My e92 always ticks when it starts up. When it gets warm and the lifters get bled it sounds mint. I honesty haven't seen one that doesn't do this.

[_nwilton]

That video is not lifter tick. Something else is rattling. If that is lifter tick all your lifters a screw. Much too "aggressive" to be a lifter

[G3RM4N]

I have an E90 335i with an N54, and I've been trying to figure out what the ticking noise was at cold start. It sounded like lifter tick in N52's and had all the same symptoms. This week I just got to the bottom of it and it's not lifter tick at all... It's my Evap Purge valve. This is located behind the intake box (or dci). If you have an N54 and have what you belive to be lifter tick, try unplugging the electrical connector for the evap purge valve while its making the ticking noise and see if it goes away, its only a $100 part! https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...id-13907618652

[Brill22]

What would be the best curse of action if the metallic ticking sound is still happening even after driving for a decent amount of time, oil levels are fine, and just had a routine check up at a dealer (figures the sound was not audible when having someone check it out).

[hassmaschine]

Nothing. Unless you want to pay to replace the head, which doesn't really make sense - it doesn't hurt anything other than making noise.

[UK_Nomad]

I've just been overhauling the vanos system on my '07 E93 325i due to intermittent vanos error codes.
For info, a light "lifter tick" that's been present since I got the car disappeared after I cleaned the vanos check filters, the good news is the job costs nothing and takes less than 30 minutes Something to think about? https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=900394

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Brill22

What would be the best curse of action if the metallic ticking sound is still happening even after driving for a decent amount of time, oil levels are fine, and just had a routine check up at a dealer (figures the sound was not audible when having someone check it out).

turn the radio up louder while idling in the drivethru.


FWIW my lifter tick seems to have gone away using castrol ll01 5w-40.

was always there with 0-40.

[matreyia]

You are a new owner? This sound is completely normal engine sound. If they were lifters or injector malfunction...trust me, you would DEFINITELY panic when you hear it. It's loud as shit.


Now that being said, I don't get any ticks at all but I my engine sounds exactly like your video posted here. So in my opinion, that video only shows normal engine 'ticking' and not actual panic producing tick of lifters or injector damage. I keep my engine ultra smooth by flushing engine every third oil change, and every oil change, I change filter, oil and drive for one tank of gas, then change again to help minimize turbo oil coking in the lines from heat.

[matreyia]

Now THIS ticking is abnormal. There are a few things possibly going on here in this video.

1. lifters out of adjustment - re-adjust lifters and flush engine/or add lifter additive to oil change.

2. There is a region under the engine plastic cover that ticks just like this if it is not in place correctly due to the injector cycles

3. Injector damage is imminent.

I recommend changing your oil if you hear this, and flush the engine first, then change oil and filter, then drive for one tank of gas, then change oil again and add lifter additive if still there. I also add ceratec for extra protection.

[nsjames]

the lifters are hydraulic, and not adjustable. which is why they are sensitive to oil type and quality.

it's not going to destroy the motor.

why would there be injector damage from a lifter tick?

and usually when injectors fail they stop making noise

[Pangster1000]

Hi, is this lifter issue only applicable to petrol engines or can it also occur for diesel engines like the N57?

[hassmaschine]

it's specific to early versions of the N52. It has nothing to do with the N54, N57, etc (as far as I know).

[leeks]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KuaFsdk2MJtVR6Tu8

This is the tick of my 325i N53 engine.

Is this normal guys? I don't recall any tick when I test-drove the car prior to buying it (recently). I found out recently that the engine was missing the stem that holds the oil filter (oil change) so I've replaced the oil filter cap with stem now. Seems softer than before but still strange.

Anyone that might have a clue? I have an intermittent 30C1 error but otherwise, nothing else

[Sladerade]

this happened to me just last week. waiting to hear back from the shop.

[Anwarmohiuddin]

Hi, does any one have an idea why i hear this sound intermittently? [IMG]

[/IMG]

[Justin C]

New to E90post. Just getting my post in. But in reality I do have this same issue. Might not be exactly what is being described but it does happen to come and go. I heard it’s a self-remedying problem?

[sniper7777777]

I would be scared lol